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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (45324)	5/18/2004 6:25:40 PM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 794356

Bush leads in negative ads, but Kerry has help By Mark Memmott, USA TODAY The Bush-Cheney campaign has produced more negative TV ads than the campaign of Sen. John Kerry and is devoting more of its budget to airing them than Kerry is committing to his negative ads, a USA TODAY analysis shows. But spending by independent, anti-Bush organizations has made up the difference. The $30 million those groups devoted to negative, anti-Bush ads has meant the amount of money spent on attacks aimed at each candidates is about the same. (Graphic:Campaign ad analysis) Looking at ads produced by the two presidential campaigns and at information collected by an independent, ad-monitoring service and released by the campaigns, USA TODAY found that at least $45 million, nearly two-thirds of the $70.5 million spent so far by the Bush-Cheney campaign, has been to air its seven negative ads. Kerry's spending on his five negative ads can't be traced as thoroughly because three have aired almost solely on cable channels, where spending isn't tracked. But it is known that Kerry has spent $25 million, 56% of the $44.5 million he has spent so far, to air two positive, biographical ads about himself. So as a percentage of ad spending, the amount he has devoted to negative ads is smaller than the Bush campaign's. If polls continue to show the Bush-Kerry race even, the trends set so far in the two campaigns' ad efforts will probably continue, political scientists and admakers predict. That means, they say, the Bush-Cheney campaign's ad effort will remain on average more negative than Kerry's. "I would expect Bush's 'positive' percentage (of ads) to go up some and Kerry's 'negative' percentage to rise a bit," says William Benoit, a University of Missouri-Columbia communications professor who studies political ads. "But Kerry's only likely to go really negative if he gets well behind in the polls." USA TODAY reviewed the major ads released by the campaigns since March 1, after Kerry clinched the Democratic presidential nomination and the general campaign began. The review covered 13 Bush-Cheney ads and 10 Kerry ads. It did not include ads that have aired in only a few states, including a Spanish-language ad released by the Bush-Cheney campaign last week. Independent research on ad spending and the ads' contents were also studied. Negative ads were defined as ads that are "as much or more about your opponent than you." Among USA TODAY's findings: •Kerry is referred to by name or indirectly 40 times in Bush's ads. "That's no accident, and they're not saying nice things" about Kerry as the Bush-Cheney campaign tries to define him in voters' minds, says Linda Kaplan Thaler, CEO of the Kaplan Thaler Group. Her admaking company's clients include the AFLAC insurance company. Bush is referred to 14 times in Kerry's ads. Bush's aides have said repeatedly that their campaign's ads are not "negative" but instead "comparative." Kerry's aides have said repeatedly that the Democrat's ads are designed more to tell voters about Kerry than to strike at Bush. •According to data collected by TNS Media Intelligence/Campaign Media Analysis Group and obtained by USA TODAY, the Bush-Cheney campaign has spent about $56.7 million so far to air ads on TV stations in 100 markets. Nearly all those stations are in states that both campaigns believe they have a chance to win. Of that $56.7 million, TMI/CMAG's research shows 63% — $36 million — has been spent to air the seven negative ads. Last week, the campaign said it would continue running an ad called "Doublespeak," which charges that Kerry has "waffled" on major issues, for another two weeks. The Associated Press reported that the extended "ad buy," or purchase of advertising time, would cost $9 million. That brought the campaign's spending on negative ads to $45 million. Data gathered by TMI/CMAG show Kerry has spent at least $9 million — 20% of his ad buys so far — to air two of his five negative ads. Spending on the other three is not available because they have aired on cable networks that TMI/CMAG does not track. •Nearly half the statements in Bush's TV campaign ads are attacks aimed at Kerry, University of Missouri-Columbia researchers say. That compares with the 19% of statements in Kerry's ads that are attacks aimed at Bush, they say. Kerry's ads haven't been as negative as Bush's in part because the senator needs to introduce himself to many voters, communications and political-science researchers say. "When you're defining yourself, not the other person, you're going to be spending more time on positive things than you are on negatives," says Christine Williams, political science professor at Bentley College in Waltham, Mass. Also, anti-Bush organizations such as The Media Fund and MoveOn.org Voter Fund have been running the most aggressive ads of the campaign so far, giving Kerry less of a need to go on the offensive. The Missouri researchers estimate 84% of the statements in those groups' ads have been attacks aimed at Bush. Those organizations have spent at least $30 million so far this year on TV ads. Together with Kerry's negative ads, then, more than $40 million has certainly been spent on anti-Bush ads so far — close to Bush's total spending on negative ads. Find this article at: usatoday.com